Some videos which are all about the deep thoughts we have in our twenties

When we were in our twenties, Tom remarked on the fact that we now had adult memories; that we could look back and see a past. That doesn’t happen in your teens. It seems to be a perception, a knowledge that occurs when one is a twenty-something. 

My favorite Pink Floyd song tells of this experience, and I happened to see that Roger Waters, who wrote the lyrics, came to the realization when he was 28 or 29. 

This song is about how time can slip by, but many people do not realise it until it is too late. Roger Waters got the idea when he realised he was no longer preparing for anything in life, but was right in the middle of it. 

"Time"

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day

Fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way

Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town

Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain

You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today

And then one day you find ten years have got behind you

No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking

Racing around to come up behind you again

The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older

Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time

Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines

Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way

The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say

Home, home again

I like to be here when I can

When I come home cold and tired

It's good to warm my bones beside the fire

Far away, across the fields

The tolling of the iron bell

Calls the faithful to their knees

To hear the softly spoken magic spell

One of my very early posts spotlighted the first Keane album. A song from it that expresses this same twenties experience is Somewhere Only We Know.

I walked across an empty land

I knew the pathway like the back of my hand

I felt the earth beneath my feet

Sat by the river, and it made me complete

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?

I'm getting old, and I need something to rely on

So tell me when you're gonna let me in

I'm getting tired, and I need somewhere to begin

I came across a fallen tree

I felt the branches of it looking at me

Is this the place we used to love?

Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?

I'm getting old, and I need something to rely on

So tell me when you're gonna let me in

I'm getting tired, and I need somewhere to begin

And if you have a minute, why don't we go

Talk about it somewhere only we know?

This could be the end of everything

So why don't we go

Somewhere only we know?

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?

I'm getting old, and I need something to rely on

So tell me when you're gonna let me in

I'm getting tired, and I need somewhere to begin

And if you have a minute, why don't we go

Talk about it somewhere only we know?

This could be the end of everything

So why don't we go?

So why don't we go?

This could be the end of everything

So why don't we go

Somewhere only we know

Somewhere only we know

Somewhere only we know?

Adele’s latest album 25 is described here and there’s that same theme. 

"Million Years Ago"

I only wanted to have fun

Learning to fly learning to run

I let my heart decide the way

When I was young

Deep down I must have always known

That this would be inevitable

To earn my stripes I'd have to pay

And bare my soul

I know I'm not the only one

Who regrets the things they've done

Sometimes I just feel it's only me

Who can't stand the reflection that they see

I wish I could live a little more

Look up to the sky not just the floor

I feel like my life is flashing by

And all I can do is watch and cry

I miss the air, I miss my friends

I miss my mother, I miss it when

Life was a party to be thrown

But that was a million years ago

When I walk around all of the streets

Where I grew up and found my feet

They can't look me in the eye

It's like they're scared of me

I try to think of things to say

Like a joke or a memory

But they don't recognize me now

In the light of day

I know I'm not the only one

Who regrets the things they've done

Sometimes I just feel it's only me

Who never became who they thought they'd be

I wish I could live a little more

Look up to the sky not just the floor

I feel like my life is flashing by

And all I can do is watch and cry

I miss the air I miss my friends

I miss my mother I miss it when

Life was a party to be thrown

But that was a million years ago

A million years ago

This post was prompted by an Ed Sheeran video I watched this morning. I thought, oh my gosh, this really is a ‘thing.’ It is a life truth that when we’ve had a few years of living, we look back to see where we came from and what shaped us and how the time goes by. 

"Castle on the Hill"

When I was six years old I broke my leg

I was running from my brother and his friends

And tasted the sweet perfume of the mountain grass I rolled down

I was younger then, take me back to when I

Found my heart and broke it here

Made friends and lost them through the years

And I’ve not seen the roaring fields in so long, I know I’ve grown

But I can’t wait to go home.

I’m on my way 

Driving at 90 down those country lanes

Singing to “Tiny Dancer”

And I miss the way you make me feel, and it’s real

We watched the sunset over the castle on the hill

Fifteen years old and smoking hand-rolled cigarettes

Running from the law through the back fields and getting drunk with my friends

Had my first kiss on a Friday night, I don’t reckon I did it right

But I was younger then, take me back to when

We found weekend jobs, when we got paid

We’d buy cheap spirits and drink them straight

Me and my friends have not thrown up in so long, oh how we’ve grown

But I can’t wait to go home

I’m on my way

Driving at 90 down those country lanes

Singing to “Tiny Dancer”

And I miss the way you make me feel, and it’s real

We watched the sunset over the castle on the hill

Over the castle on the hill

Over the castle on the hill

One friend left to sell clothes

One works down by the coast

One had two kids but lives alone

One’s brother overdosed

One’s already on his second wife

One’s just barely getting by

But these people raised me

And I can’t wait to go home

And I’m on my way, I still remember

These old country lanes

When we did not know the answers

And I miss the way you make me feel, it’s real

We watched the sunset over the castle on the hill

Over the castle on the hill

Over the castle on the hill

The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey

The Franchise Affair - book 3 in the Alan Grant series (though he is barely in this one)

by Josephine Tey

mystery 1948

kindle

finished 1/21/17 

I have never read a book like The Franchise Affair. 

Here is the plot. A young teenage girl goes to the police and tells them that she has been kidnapped and beaten by two women, a woman in her forties and her mother. She describes their house and grounds in great and perfect detail. The women deny everything. Can you imagine if someone accused you of such a thing and ‘knew’ your home inside out? What a horror. The reader doesn't know who is telling the truth and who isn’t for a while. There is a wonderful small town lawyer who has lived a placid, easy life with a doting aunt. Suddenly he is swept up in the case and off on the adventure of his life. Alan Grant, the Scotland yard sleuth in the first two books in the series makes very few appearances. I guess that’s about all I’ll say except that this is one great story, and you don’t need to read the others in the series first.

I read it for the Birth Year Reading Challenge 2017

and the Read Scotland 2017 challenge

though I was going to read it anyway because I am planning to read all the books in the Alan Grant series, and Tey's non-series books as well. She was a very good writer who died too early. Her real name was Elizabeth MacKintosh. You may read more about her here and here. I've just bought a recent biography of her by Jennifer Morag Henderson. My thanks go out to my blogging friend Cath for introducing the author to me. 

Today's pictures - Inauguration day at Windy Poplars Farm

Little Secrets cookies

This is a posting which references two earlier blog entries I've written. One is a a  'product placement' piece on Little Secrets candy. You may read it here.

The second entry is a chocolate chip cookie recipe from the Sugar in the Raw company. You may read it here.

A while ago I read someone's post on cookies made with M&Ms. Since then I've been thinking of making them with Little Secrets. I used the chocolate chip recipe just substituting Little Secrets for chocolate chips. I bought several varieties, and am making them once a week now.

Hazel Nina began going three mornings a week to a Montessori school in town. One of the days is a day Margaret works and we take care of her. So Pop brings her to school and when we pick her up and go to either her house or ours, we give her what we call 'Tuesday cookies' and milk. It's a fun little ritual.

This week I used the Dark Chocolate Raspberry variety. It was just the best feeling to not be using the horrible, cancer causing artificial colors that are in M&Ms.

I make a couple without candy for Lucy, and here she is waiting for her cookie.

And of course Hazel thinks they are great!

Today's poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

The Library in the Garret
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Books, books, books!
I had found the secret of a garret-room
Piled high with cases in my father's name;
Piled high, packed large, - where, creeping in and out
Among the giant fossils of my past,
Like some small nimble mouse between the ribs
Of a mastodon, I nibbled here and there
At this or that box, pulling through the gap,
In heats of terror, haste, victorious joy,
The first book first. And how I felt it beat
Under my pillow, in the morning's dark,
An hour before the sun would let me read!
My books! ...

The poem was in the introduction to this book, which I borrowed from my daughter.

There is a book for each of the 365 days. I think I'm going to really enjoy this. I've already peeked ahead and seen many books I've never read.

The year began with Zadie Smith's White Teeth.

From the introduction:
Think of this as a tasting menu. It is my dearest hope that each taste will send you scurrying to your bookseller or library so you can read (or reread) that book, cover to cover.

Today's video/American Nights by Plain White T's

Here's a fun video by Plain White T's from a couple years ago. I might have to buy the album!

Read Scotland 2017 Challenge

I have these five books about Scotland

on my shelves, and some of them have been there for a long time. Year after year goes by, and I don't read them. So I thought I'd sign up for Peggy Ann's Read Scotland 2017 Challenge.

All the books are set on the Hebrides, and all but the Ann Cleeves are nonfiction. I own one other book set in Scotland, written by the late Iain Banks,

and I just may read this one as well, even though I've read it twice already. I wrote a little bit about it in a book journal before I had a blog.

The book is subtitled In Search Of The Perfect Dram.This book will appeal to - the whisky fan, the fan of author Banks' fiction work, and then me, who is neither one. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was like sitting in the living room (or at a bar!) with him. The writing is rambling, his thoughts seem to be written as he thinks them. What I like especially is his passion- for life, for Scotland, for whisky, for cars, for music, for fun.

It is time I read these books, and this is the perfect way to get myself to do so. I am reading at the 1-5 level called Totie Wee. You may join here at her blog, or on her Goodreads page here. 

Saturday Sally/January 7

If you love Inspector Morse, Inspector Lewis, or Endeavour, then I want to direct you to a blog that is all about them. You may find it here. Christopher Sullivan does an amazing job of sharing all one could ever hope to know about these television shows, from reviews of individual episodes including artistic, literary, and musical references, to up to the minute articles about, or communications from, the actors. He also has a youtube channel which you may find here.

Tomorrow night on ITV the fourth series of Endeavour begins. I'll be watching via TunnelBear. It will eventually be on PBS in the US, but I've recently learned from Christopher's blog that we lose about ten minutes of the show over here. After I've seen the shows, I buy the DVDs from PBS, but they say "Full UK-Length Edition."

So that's it for the first Sally of the new year. I wanted to spotlight this one site in case fans of the shows don't know about it. For those on Facebook, he has a page there, too.

Birth Year Reading Challenge 2017

Last year I joined a little challenge offered by my PEI friend here. I read not one book. It was a great idea, but ... . I've looked at a few of the challenges offered this year, but steeled myself to be realistic and not sign up. But this one, offered by another blogging friend seems like something I might be able to participate in, and have some success with. Plus it sounds like great fun. You may read more about it here, and perhaps some of you will sign up.

I had read two books in the Alan Grant series by Josephine Tey last year. The next one in line was published in my birth year, so that will go on the list. Also, there are a few Agatha Christie books I haven't yet read, and one of them was also published then. And a year ago I bought Uncle Dynamite by PG Wodehouse, and discovered to my delight that it too is a birth year publication. So, right off the bat, there are three books for me.

The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey
Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie
Uncle Dynamite by PG Wodehouse

Oh, and if you're wondering what year - it is 1948. Yup, next year is my big 7-0! How did that happen?

Anyhow, I am looking forward to this challenge, and I thank JG for offering it.

2017 Book Facts

December - 6

5 mysteries
1 fiction

5 kindle
1 pring

3 by men
3 by women

1 - 1900-1910
2 - 1930s
1 - 1950s
2 - 2011-2019

November - 4

2 mysteries
1 fiction
1 short stories

2 kindle
1 print

4 by men

2 - 1930s
1 - 2000-2010
1 - 2011-2019

October - 4

3 mysteries
1 fiction

3 kindle
1 print

2 by men
2 by women

2 - 1930s
1 - 1950s
1 - 1970s

September - 4

3 mysteries
1 nonfiction

2 kindle
2 print

2 by men
2 by women

1 - 1950s
3 - 2011-2019

August - 4

3 mysteries
1 nonfiction

3 kindle
1 print

2 by men
2 by women

1 - 1960s
1 -  2000-2010
2 - 2011-2019

July - 4

3 mysteries
1 fiction

4 kindle

2 by men
2 by women

1 - 1940s
3 - 2011-2019


June - 6

5 mysteries
1 nonfiction

5 kindle
1 print

1 by men
5 by women

1 - 1950s
2 - 1990s
3 - 2011-2019


May - 5

5 mysteries

5 kindle

5 by men

One 2011-2019
Four 1990s


April - 6

1 fiction
5 mysteries

5 kindle
1 print

4 by men
2 by women

3 -  2000-2010
3 -  2011-2019


March - 3 books

3 mysteries

2 kindle
1 print

1 by men
2 by women

1 -  2000-2010
2 -  2011-2019


February - 3 books

3 mysteries

3 kindle

3 by men

1 - 1920s
1 - 1930s
1 - 1990s



January - 6 books

4 mysteries
2 nonfiction

4 kindle
2 print

4 by men
2 by women

2 - 1940s
1 - 1960s
2 - 1990s
1 - 2011-2019

Tom's 2017 Reads

4 in all.

October - 1

4. Limitless (also known as The Dark Fields)
by Alan Glynn
fiction 2001
print
finished 10/10/17

September - 1

3. The Man Who Created the Middle East: A Story of Empire, Conflict and the Sykes-Picot Agreement
by Christopher Simon Sykes
nonfiction 2016
print
finished 9/3/17

April - 2

1. Hero of the Empire
by Candice Millard
nonfiction 2016
print
finished 4/1/17

2. Presumption of Guilt - book 27 in the Joe Gunther series
by Archer Mayor
mystery 2016
print
finished 4/21/17

Books Read in 2017

December - 6

55. Brooklyn Secrets - book 3 in the Erica Donato series
by Triss Stein
mystery 2015
kindle
finished 12/31/17

54. Brooklyn Graves - book 2 in the Erica Donato series
by Triss Stein
mystery 2014
kindle
finished 12/28/17

53. Anne of Green Gables - book 1 in the Anne Shirley series
by Lucy Maud Montgomery
fiction 1908
kindle
reread
finished 12/21/17

52. A Maigret Christmas and Other Stories
by Georges Simenon; translated by David Coward 2017
mystery 1951
print
finished 12/15/17

51. The Case of Naomi Clynes aka Inspector Richardson CID - book 3 in the Inspector Richardson series
by Basil Thomson
mystery 1934
kindle
finished 12/11/17

50. Richardson Scores Again aka Richardson's Second Case - book 2 in the Inspector Richardson series
by Basil Thomson
mystery 1934
kindle
finished 12/5/17

November - 4

49. Richardson's First Case - book 1 in the Inspector Richardson Mystery series
by Basil Thomson
mystery 1933
kindle
finished 11/25/17

48. A Rumpole Christmas
by John Mortimer
short stories 2009
print
reread
finished 11/20/17

47. The House of Unexpected Sisters - book 18 in the No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series
by Alexander McCall Smith
fiction 2018
kindle
finished 11/17/17

46. Dictator's Way aka Death of a Tyrant - book 10 in the Bobby Owen series
by E.R. Punshon
mystery 1938
kindle
finished 11/9/17

October - 4

45. The Dusky Hour aka Death in the Chalkpits - book 9 in the Bobby Owen series
by E.R. Punshon
mystery 1937
kindle
finished 10/30/17

44. Mystery of Mr. Jessop - book 8 in the Bobby Owen series
by E.R. Punshon
mystery 1937
kindle
finished 10/16/17

43. Battles at Thrush Green - book 4 in the Thrush Green series
by Miss Read
fiction 1975
print
reread
finished 10/14/17

42. The Daughter of Time - book 5 in the Alan Grant series
by Josephine Tey
mystery 1951
kindle
finished 10/2/17

September - 4

41. How Many Camels Are There in Holland?
Dementia, ma and me
by Phyllida Law
nonfiction 2013
print
finished 9/29/17

40. To Love and Be Wise - book 4 in the Alan Grant series
by Josephine Tey
mystery 1950
kindle
finished 9/27/17

39. Magpie Murders
by Anthony Horowitz
mystery 2016
print
finished 9/20/17

38. Storm Cell - book 10 in the Lewis Cole series
by Brendan DuBois
mystery 2016
kindle
finished 9/3/17

August - 4

37. The Perfect Summer
England 1911, Just Before the Storm
by Juliet Nicolson
nonfiction 2006
print
finished 8/31/17

36. Blood Foam - book 9 in the Lewis Cole series
by Brendan DuBois
mystery 2015
kindle
finished 8/26/17

35. Brooklyn Bones - book 1 in the Erica Donato series
by Triss Stein
mystery 2013
kindle
finished 8/20/17

34. Miss Seeton Draws the Line - book 2 in the Miss Seeton series
by Heron Carvic
mystery 1969
kindle
finished 8/13/17

July - 4

33. A Distant View of Everything - book 11 in the Isabel Dalhousie series
by Alexander McCall Smith
fiction 2017
kindle
finished 7/30/17

32. Once Upon a Grind - book 14 in the Coffeehouse series
by Cleo Coyle
mystery 2014
kindle
finished 7/23/17

31. Billionaire Blend - book 13 in the Coffeehouse series
by Cleo Coyle
mystery 2013
kindle
finished 7/14/17

30. Close Quarters - book 1 in the Inspector Hazlerigg series
by Michael Gilbert
mystery 1947
kindle
finished 7/4/17

Wrote about first six months here.

June - 6

29. Blood and Judgement - book 1 in the Patrick Petrella series
by Michael Gilbert
mystery 1959
kindle
finished 6/24/17

28. Missing, Presumed - book 1 in the DS Manon series
by Susie Steiner
mystery 2016
kindle
finished 6/18/17

27. A Brew to a Kill - book 11 in the Coffeehouse series
by Cleo Coyle
mystery 2012
kindle 
finished 6/14/17

26. Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals That Brought Me Home
by Jessica Fechtor
nonfiction 2015
print
finished 6/9/17

25. No Place for Memories - book 6 (and last) in the Fred Vickery series
by Sherry Lewis
mystery 1999
kindle 
finished 6/7/17

24. No Place for Sin - book 5 in the Fred Vickery series
by Sherry Lewis
mystery 1997
kindle
finished 6/4/17

May - 5

23. No Place for Tears - book 4 in the Fred Vickery series
by Sherry Lewis
mystery 1997
kindle
finished 5/30/17

22. No Place for Death - book 3 in the Fred Vickery series
by Sherry Lewis
mystery 1996
kindle
finished 5/24/17

21. No Place Like Home - book 2 in the Fred Vickery series
by Sherry Lewis
mystery 1996
kindle
finished 5/17/17

20. No Place for Secrets - book 1 in the Fred Vickery series
by Sherry Lewis
mystery 1995
kindle
finished 5/12/17

19. Fatal Harbor - book 8 in the Lewis Cole series
by Brendan DuBois
mystery 2014
kindle
finished 5/2/17

April - 6

18. The Song of Hartgrove Hall - published in Great Britain as The Song Collector
by Natasha Solomons
fiction 2015
print
finished 4/27/17

17. Deadly Cove - book 7 in the Lewis Cole series
by Brendan DuBois
mystery 2011
kindle
finished 4/25/17

16. Primary Storm - book 6 in the Lewis Cole series
by Brendan DuBois
mystery 2006
kindle
finished 4/22/17

15. Killer Jam - book 1 in the Dewberry Farm series
by Karen MacInerney
mystery 2015
kindle 
finished 4/16/17

14. Buried Dreams - book 5 in the Lewis Cole series
by Brendan DuBois
mystery 2004
kindle
finished 4/12/17

13. Killer Waves - book 4 in the Lewis Cole series
by Brendan DuBois
mystery 2002
kindle
finished 4/4/17

March - 3

12. In This Grave Hour - book 13 in the Maisie Hobbs series
by Jacqueline Winspear
mystery 2017
kindle
finished 3/23/17

11. The Blackhouse - book 1 in the Lewis Trilogy
by Peter May
mystery 2009
print
finished 3/16/17

10. Death of a Chimney Sweep - book 26 in the Hamish Macbeth series
by MC Beaton
mystery 2011
kindle
finished 3/5/17

February - 3

9. Mystery in the Channel - book 7 in the Inspector French series
by Freeman Wills Crofts
mystery 1931
kindle
finished 2/28/17

8. The Starvel Hollow Tragedy - book 3 in the Inspector French series
by Freeman Wills Crofts
mystery 1927
kindle
finished 2/14/17

7. Shattered Shell -  book 3 in the Lewis Cole series
by Brendan DuBois
mystery 1999
kindle 
finished 2/5/17

January - 6

6. The Little Book of Hygge
Danish Secrets To Happy Living
by Meik Wiking
nonfiction 2016
print
finished  1/27/17

5. The Franchise Affair - book 3 in the Alan Grant (though he is barely in this one)
by Josephine Tey
mystery 1948
kindle
finished 1/21/17

4. The Crofter & The Laird
by John McPhee
nonfiction 1969
print
finished 1/19/17

3. Taken at the Flood - book 27 in the Hercule Poirot series
by Agatha Christie
mystery 1948
kindle 
finished 1/16/17

2. Black Tide - book 2 in the Lewis Cole series
by Brendan DuBois
mystery 1995
kindle
finished 1/11/17

1. Dead Sand - book 1 in the Lewis Cole series
by Brendan DuBois
mystery 1994
kindle 
finished 1/3/17

Some words from Van Morrison on the first day of the new year

May each of you have days like this in 2017.

2016 book facts

I'm not sure anyone but me is interested in such a post! Just the facts about this year's reading.

This year I read 59 books.

Genres

Children's: 1 (well, really more than this, but wrote about one, and didn't keep track of the others)
Fiction: 8
Mystery: 42
Nonfiction: 7
Short stories: 1

Kindle: 48
Print: 11

Publication dates

1920s - 1
1930s - 7
1940s - 1
1950s - 4
1960s - 3
1970s - 3
1980s - 4
1990s - 9
2000 through 2010 - 8
2011 through 2019 - 19

Gender

Men: 15
Women: 43
By a man and a woman: 1

My 2016 Reading

I spent a good part of the year in this area of the world without having to leave Windy Poplars Farm. This has to be one of the most wonderful things about reading. It is very doubtful that I will ever get to visit these countries, but I feel I know something about them from books.

I discovered the wonderful Inspector Singh mysteries by Shamini Flint. Singh's home is Singapore but he travels around solving crimes, mainly because his bosses want him out of their hair. He investigates in Mumbai, Cambodia, Bali, Kuala Lumpur, China, and London. He's happy when he gets to stay home. We hear often how his trademark white sneakers don't get dirty on Singapore's clean streets. Here is a list of the seven books written so far, in order of publication.

I read the third and fourth books in the Vish Puri series, The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken, and The Case of the Love Commandos by Tarquin Hall, and so loved them.The author brings the sights and food and humanity of Delhi alive to the reader. I found an article on pollution there which was written by the author’s wife, journalist Anu Anand. You may read it here. She also wrote a blog piece about moving the family back to England because of this problem. It is here.There hasn’t been a new Vish Puri for three years, and I hope the series will continue.

I also read the second in Vaseem Khan's delightful Baby Ganesh Detective Agency series called The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown. Mumbai is the city featured in this series, and the author makes me feel as if I am there. A third book is on the way soon.

I read a new mystery called Murder at the House of Rooster Happiness - book 1 in the Ethical Chiang Mai Detective Agency series by David Casarett, and really liked it.

I read The Merry Misogynist - book 6 in the Dr. Siri Paiboun series by Colin Cotterill, a book I had put off because I didn’t like the title and what it meant. It was very good, but I can read these books only with spaces of time in between. I so like Dr. Paiboun and his wife, and the stories are excellent, but they are a bit … I don’t even know the adjective. Not dark, not heavy, but for me they are a bit intense. 

I was happy, happy that the prolific Alexander McCall Smith published number 17 (!!) in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, set in Botswana called Precious and Grace. I hope he never stops. These books are food for my soul. I love them beyond words.

I went to Maine, and caught up on the Gray Whale Inn series by Karen McInerney, reading books 4, 5, and 6; Berried to the Hilt, Brush with Death, and Death Runs Adrift. The 7th comes out next month. I adore the characters, the settings, and the stories in this series.

I was thrilled to see that two of my longtime favorite writers' books were available on kindle: D. E. Stevenson and Elizabeth Cadell. I read three by each author and remembered why I love their work so much. Interesting, kindly people, terrific settings, and just plain good stories. They never disappoint and I feel a contented happiness when I’m within their books. 

I spent the early part of the year finishing up my reading of Jane Langton’s series with former cop, now professor Homer Kelly and his wife Mary, also a professor. The reader learns a great deal about various locales, writers, and art. 

I did some reading in the Bobby Owens series by E.R. Punshon whose books are quiet, interesting Golden Age mysteries. I read the first Miss Seeton book by Heron Carvic, and two books in the Alan Grant series by Josephine Tey. I plan to continue with all three of these series. 

I also read some excellent nonfiction this year. The best, the most wonderful was Kick: The True Story of JFK's sister and the Heir to Chatsworth by Paula Byrne. I can't say enough good things about it. Such sadness in that family. Another good book was Elle & Coach by Stefany Shaheen (with Mark Dagostino). This is a story about a young girl with diabetes who is helped enormously by a yellow Labrador retriever. I was amazed by Coach. I very much enjoyed Deep in the Green by Anne Raver, a collection of gardening/life essays. There were a few other nonfiction books as well, but these were my favorites.

My reading year was full of sweet, old-fashioned fiction, wonderful mysteries, and some terrific non-fiction. My hope for next year is to read more print books, and try to write about my reading here, even if just little monthly book notes.

Today's picture/Writing Christmas cards

It is snowing outside the window as I write my Christmas cards. I feel like I'm in a movie.

Today's picture/A first day of winter surprise - moose antler

Tom and Lucy came upon this moose antler up in the woods on the morning four-wheeler ride. Lucy barked at it!

From my Wild Mammals of New England book:

New antlers begin to grow in April. Growth is slow at first but becomes much faster as summer advances. By August or September full development is reached when the velvet dries and is rubbed off on shrubs and trees. The antlers are usually shed in December or January, but may be shed as late as March.

This was newly shed because there was still a bit of blood at the base. Pretty cool, eh, wot?!

Christmas wreath

I've meant to post this since we got our wreath three weeks ago! The woman who owns the flower CSA (Community Supported Agriculture),

which I wrote about so often this summer, made it.

It also had two bulbs of garlic on it, but we brought them inside. Oh, and we are hoping to get the house painted this summer. It has been over a decade! Geez, Louise!

Hygge

hygge (ˈhyɡə) noun: a concept, originating in Denmark, of creating cosy and convivial atmospheres that promote wellbeing

I'm quite sure that I first read of hygge in this entry on Cornflower's blog. I began looking into the subject, and thought to myself, 'yes, this is it.' Here is my domestic life principle. This is who I am, a homebody who wants my home to be a comfortable and comforting place for me and others. I wrote about this a bit here, as I found that Laurie Colwin felt the same way. 

I've preordered The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living by Meik Wiking, and can't wait to read it.

I've heard that hygge was on short list for word of the year 2016, but it was beat out by brexit.

The pronunciation is something like 'hooguh' said quickly.

You may find more about hygge in the following places:

A short, terrific video here. I think I could happily live in Copenhagen. She shows us that hygge is a concept more far reaching than simply the household sense of the word.

And here. More here. 

This should give you an idea, and if you are interested, there is much more online. Here are some hygge spaces in my house.

living room

kitchen

tv room

Today's pictures/the December 5th birthday team!

Today Tom turns 66 and Hazel Nina turns 3!!